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Zaire

Zaire/zɑːˈɪər/, officially the Republic of Zaire (French:République du Zaïre; French pronunciation:​[za.iʁ]) was the name, between 1971 and 1997, of a Central African state, now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The state's name derives from the name of the Congo River, sometimes called Zaire in Portuguese, adapted from the Kongo word nzere or nzadi ("river that swallows all rivers").

The state was a one-party state and dictatorship, run by Mobutu Sese Seko and his ruling Popular Movement of the Revolution party. It was established following Mobutu's seizure of power in a military coup in 1965, following five years of political upheaval following independence known as the Congo Crisis. Zaire had a strongly centralist constitution and foreign assets were nationalized. A wider campaign of Authenticité, ridding the country of the influences from the colonial era of the Belgian Congo, was also launched under Mobutu's direction. Weakened by the end of American support after the end of the Cold War, Mobutu was forced to declare a new republic in 1990 to cope with demands for change. By the time of its disestablishment, Mobutu's rule was characterized by widespread cronyism, corruption and economic mismanagement.

History

The Bakongo people occupied the valley of the Congo River in the mid-thirteenth century, and formed the Kingdom of Kongo. This kingdom existed from 1390 until 1891 as an independent state, and from 1891 to 1914 as a vassal state of the Kingdom of Portugal. In 1914, the Kongo monarchy was abolished, following the Portuguese victory against several revolts of this kingdom.

During the Portuguese Colonial War, much of the Bakongo people fled to the then Zaire, leading to a considerable decrease of the presence presence of this ethnic group in Angolan soil. However, after the Independence of Angola, many refugees (and their descendants) returned to Angola.

Zaire (1967–1993)

The Zaire (French: Zaïre), symbol: "Z", or sometimes "Ƶ", was introduced in 1967, replacing the Congolese franc at an exchange rate of 1 zaire = 1000 francs. The zaire was subdivided into 100 makuta (singular: likuta, symbol: "K"), each of 100 sengi (symbol: "s"). However, the sengi was worth very little and the only sengi denominated coin was the 10 sengi coin issued in 1967. Unusually for any currency, it was common practice to write cash amounts with three zeros after the decimal place, even after inflation had greatly devalued the currency. Inflation eventually caused denominations of banknotes up to 5,000,000 zaires to be issued, after which the new zaire was introduced.

Coins

In 1967, coins were introduced by the National Bank of Congo in denominations of 10 sengi, 1 and 5 makuta, with the lower two denominations in aluminium and the highest in cupro-nickel. In 1973, the first coins issued by the Bank of Zaire were issued, cupro-nickel 5, 10 and 20 makuta. In 1987, a new coinage was introduced, consisting of brass 1, 5 and with a 10 zaires in 1988.

Zaire

Zaire/zɑːˈɪər/, officially the Republic of Zaire (French:République du Zaïre; French pronunciation:​[za.iʁ]) was the name, between 1971 and 1997, of a Central African state, now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The state's name derives from the name of the Congo River, sometimes called Zaire in Portuguese, adapted from the Kongo word nzere or nzadi ("river that swallows all rivers").

The state was a one-party state and dictatorship, run by Mobutu Sese Seko and his ruling Popular Movement of the Revolution party. It was established following Mobutu's seizure of power in a military coup in 1965, following five years of political upheaval following independence known as the Congo Crisis. Zaire had a strongly centralist constitution and foreign assets were nationalized. A wider campaign of Authenticité, ridding the country of the influences from the colonial era of the Belgian Congo, was also launched under Mobutu's direction. Weakened by the end of American support after the end of the Cold War, Mobutu was forced to declare a new republic in 1990 to cope with demands for change. By the time of its disestablishment, Mobutu's rule was characterized by widespread cronyism, corruption and economic mismanagement.